Would-Be Bike Thief Lassoed By Bystander On Horseback

Why Is This Important?

Because only in America.

Long Story Short

A guy tried to steal a bike outside a South Oregon Walmart, but any plans for a clean getaway were thwarted by a bystander who jumped on his horse and chased down the thief. When the cattle rancher finally caught up to the would-be bike thief, he lassoed him with his rope and tied him up until police arrived.

Long Story

Who needs a car with a lot of horsepower when you got that real deal horsepower?

Robert Borba was loading dog food and a tent into his truck in a South Oregon Walmart parking lot when he heard a woman screaming that her bike was being stolen, according to the Medford Mail Tribune.

Sure enough, when Borba turned around, he saw would-be bike thief, 22-year-old suspect Victorino Arellano-Sanchez making a break for it on the bike. Arellano-Sanchez was identified as a transient from the Seattle area.

Borba, a 28-year-old cattle rancher from Northern California, but living in Eagle Point where the crime took place, followed his instincts and went after the thief. But not on foot — he knew he wasn't quick enough.

"I seen this fella trying to get up to speed on a bicycle," Borba said to the Mail Tribune. "I wasn't going to catch him on foot. I just don't run very fast."

So Borba mounted his horse and took off after Arellano-Sanchez.

Fate would have it that Arellano-Sanchez had trouble with the bike's gears, so he ditched the bike and started to run away on foot, but Borba was able to catch up with him and lassoed him like cattle. Borba proceeded to tie the suspect to a tree near a Carl's Jr. and waited 15 minutes for the cops to arrive.

"We've never had anyone lassoed and held until we got there," said Eagle Point Sgt. Darin May. "That's a first for me."

"I use a rope every day, that's how I make my living," Borba said. "If it catches cattle pretty good, it catches a bandit pretty good."

Oh sweet American justice.

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How must've the bike thief felt when he saw he was being chased down by a badass cattle rancher on horseback?

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Cheers to that real horsepower.

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Borba's wife said her husband was probably just following his instincts. "It's probably second nature to him," she said.